King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair
Their Union Is His Revenge.
Isolde de Lara considers her wedding day her death day. To end a years-long war, she is to marry vampire king, Adrian Aleksandr Vasiliev, and kill him. But her assassination attempt is thwarted and Adrian threatens that if Isolde tries to kill him again, he will raise her as the undead. Faced with the possibility of becoming the thing she hates most, Isolde seeks other ways to defy him and survive the brutal vampire court. Except it isn’t the court she fears most - its Adrian. Despite their undeniable chemistry, she wonders why the king - fierce, savage, merciless - chose her as consort. The answer will shatter her world.
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Ok, this book was soooooo enjoyable. It was a super fast-paced and easy read that had a really intriguing plot and the thing that won me over, it was the Hannah/Thierry closure we never got from the Nightworld Series. This couple reminded me SO MUCH of them and that aspect just won me over. It was a great read to refresh after binging non-stop YA fantasy this past month and I’m looking forward to what this author will do next. This is how vampires should have been written when Twilight came out. That’s all I’m saying.
This will be short and sweet because I binged this book in a day and I don’t have much bad to say about it. Scarlett St. Clair has let us down in the past but I think this more original plot leaves her a lot more room to succeed as opposed to all the pressure that comes in writing a retelling. The pacing was great, we did slow down a bit in the middle but it hooked me from the start in having action right in the first chapter and an early meeting of our main characters. I can honestly, in a weird way, see this becoming a comfort read for me. The main love interest was just so romantic and had the best lines of devotion in this whole book.
Case in point
Isolde: “What if I miss the sun?”
Adrian: “Then I will find it for you”
Absolutely swoon-worthy. I don’t know how Isolde wasn’t won over immediately. It’s definitely an enemies-to-lovers however, don’t expect that to mean it’s a slowburn… it definitely isn’t.
The only major disappoint I had was, because we focused so much on the relationship (which I loved), we didn’t get into the meat of the plot or the “why” behind a lot of the political/court structure in this book until the last few pages. I get that this was to set up a series, but it would have been nice to have a bit more background/action in book one.
If you’re looking for an easy-to-binge, fun, adult fantasy, this will definitely suite your needs. I gave it 5 stars, mainly for just the personal enjoyment. It was nice to get lost for an entire day in a single story. I also haven’t finished a book in a day in a long time.